11-02-2014, 05:37 PM
Wow! The most significant revelation today was the debut of Kaylee Johnson, the Wyoming freshman--not to be confused with sophomore Kailee Johnson of Oregon. First of all, Tara started her:
Starters:
Erica McCall
Kaylee Johnson
Taylor Greenfield
Lili Thompson
Amber Orrange
Kaylee seemed far more advanced than a frosh in all aspects of the game. She had 16 rebounds--granted against a short and inferior team, but she positioned herself well. When the three balls went up she was shoving her way inside to be ready for the put backs. She boxed out and had a knack for being in the right place. She cleaned up garbage under the basket and usually put it back in. On defense, she was fast, altered shots, and was active and energetic. Most important of all, she seems assertive and aggressive. She was shouting to her teammates and seemed fearless when going for rebounds and tie-ups. She finished with 5/6 and 12 points. If she keeps progressing like this, I think we have our second big starter.
With regard to our other two frosh there is not much to say. Brittany McPhee was the only player not to play. Taylor Rooks played some minutes toward the end of the game and had two points and a rebound. Taylor has a solid build--she looks muscular and big for her height and may eventually help us on defense, but I cannot say I learned much by watching her today.Â
I was surprised to see Taylor Greenfield start. Bonnie had been starting every game toward the end of last year and Taylor had been having a very rough time. Today Taylor looked better. She had 9 points and a couple of rebounds. She made several good plays under the basket--she has always had the ability to do so and today she showed it. When she went out at the 3, however, her main replacement was not Bonnie or one of the young wings but Karlie. Karlie did extremely well, with 17 points and a couple of assists. Bonnie got some time but was just about the only player not to score. She did not take many shots. It sure looked to me as if Karlie will have the edge at the 3, given the glut of guards we have. The new offense (more later) may have winners and losers.
Lili was spectacular again and led scoring with 26. She scored from all over, but the new offense was full of pick and rolls and she got quite a few layups. She could have scored much more but Tara kept giving the other guards chances. Amber seemed to play well but she wound up with 2 points and only 1 assist. Alex Green had 4 assists, Bri Roberson had 6 assists. I wonder if adjusting to the new offense will be easier for them than for Amber, who has invested 3 years in learning how to run the triangle.
Erica McCall may not be Chiney, but she did a good impersonation against this weak foe. Her 15 points and 10 rebounds certainly showed her maturation from a year ago. She has the ability to be better yet, but I was pleased to see her get in and clean up garbage as well as make some moves under the basket.
Kailee Johnson (who the announcer kept pronouncing Kay-lee instead of Kie-lee, causing mayhem) played as well as she usually does, and had 8 points. Nothing to criticize at all--but I had expected her to start and/or get more minutes than Kaylee--but I thought it was clear that today Kaylee was the more talented forward.
Tess came in at the end and looked much better than before. When she got rebounds she kept them over her head rather than bringing them down to be tied up the way she invariably used to do. She had a putback and 7 rebounds. She seemed to be in better shape. Realistically, she is not going to ever start for us, but she is beginning to look as if she could give us some good minutes from time to time.
The new offense looked sloppy at first, but it obviously worked out. We regularly send two players down the floor early and pushed the tempo up the floor whenever we could. But this was not the essence of it. The half court consisted of an endless string of screens--pick and rolls. The bigs would set a screen and as soon as the guard went around them the big would break for the basket with a hand up. If the guard was open or could attack the basket fine, and if the guard was not open the next choice was to pass to the big who had just screened. It was a flurry of activity and very different from the pass-the-ball-around-the-perimeter offense that so many criticized last year. We were always trying to penetrate.
Where things stand: We wound up 7/21 on three point shots--Karlie and Lili were each the primary success stories from three point range. Erica was 7/9 from inside, including on a wonderful fast break feed. Naturally we cannot tell much about the competitiveness of this team when we were playing Vanguard, but a few questions are answered. Erica McCall and Kaylee Johnson are developing into solid starting posts, Taylor and Karlie are probably going to compete for most of the time at wing, and Alex and Bri may push Amber in this new offense. Oh, and the new offense is great fun to watch.
Atmosphere: There wasn't any. No band, an unfamiliar and ignorant announcer, and a turnout generously stated to be 2600. Still, I wouldn't have missed this for anything, as Tara's secret plans begin to be revealed!
Starters:
Erica McCall
Kaylee Johnson
Taylor Greenfield
Lili Thompson
Amber Orrange
Kaylee seemed far more advanced than a frosh in all aspects of the game. She had 16 rebounds--granted against a short and inferior team, but she positioned herself well. When the three balls went up she was shoving her way inside to be ready for the put backs. She boxed out and had a knack for being in the right place. She cleaned up garbage under the basket and usually put it back in. On defense, she was fast, altered shots, and was active and energetic. Most important of all, she seems assertive and aggressive. She was shouting to her teammates and seemed fearless when going for rebounds and tie-ups. She finished with 5/6 and 12 points. If she keeps progressing like this, I think we have our second big starter.
With regard to our other two frosh there is not much to say. Brittany McPhee was the only player not to play. Taylor Rooks played some minutes toward the end of the game and had two points and a rebound. Taylor has a solid build--she looks muscular and big for her height and may eventually help us on defense, but I cannot say I learned much by watching her today.Â
I was surprised to see Taylor Greenfield start. Bonnie had been starting every game toward the end of last year and Taylor had been having a very rough time. Today Taylor looked better. She had 9 points and a couple of rebounds. She made several good plays under the basket--she has always had the ability to do so and today she showed it. When she went out at the 3, however, her main replacement was not Bonnie or one of the young wings but Karlie. Karlie did extremely well, with 17 points and a couple of assists. Bonnie got some time but was just about the only player not to score. She did not take many shots. It sure looked to me as if Karlie will have the edge at the 3, given the glut of guards we have. The new offense (more later) may have winners and losers.
Lili was spectacular again and led scoring with 26. She scored from all over, but the new offense was full of pick and rolls and she got quite a few layups. She could have scored much more but Tara kept giving the other guards chances. Amber seemed to play well but she wound up with 2 points and only 1 assist. Alex Green had 4 assists, Bri Roberson had 6 assists. I wonder if adjusting to the new offense will be easier for them than for Amber, who has invested 3 years in learning how to run the triangle.
Erica McCall may not be Chiney, but she did a good impersonation against this weak foe. Her 15 points and 10 rebounds certainly showed her maturation from a year ago. She has the ability to be better yet, but I was pleased to see her get in and clean up garbage as well as make some moves under the basket.
Kailee Johnson (who the announcer kept pronouncing Kay-lee instead of Kie-lee, causing mayhem) played as well as she usually does, and had 8 points. Nothing to criticize at all--but I had expected her to start and/or get more minutes than Kaylee--but I thought it was clear that today Kaylee was the more talented forward.
Tess came in at the end and looked much better than before. When she got rebounds she kept them over her head rather than bringing them down to be tied up the way she invariably used to do. She had a putback and 7 rebounds. She seemed to be in better shape. Realistically, she is not going to ever start for us, but she is beginning to look as if she could give us some good minutes from time to time.
The new offense looked sloppy at first, but it obviously worked out. We regularly send two players down the floor early and pushed the tempo up the floor whenever we could. But this was not the essence of it. The half court consisted of an endless string of screens--pick and rolls. The bigs would set a screen and as soon as the guard went around them the big would break for the basket with a hand up. If the guard was open or could attack the basket fine, and if the guard was not open the next choice was to pass to the big who had just screened. It was a flurry of activity and very different from the pass-the-ball-around-the-perimeter offense that so many criticized last year. We were always trying to penetrate.
Where things stand: We wound up 7/21 on three point shots--Karlie and Lili were each the primary success stories from three point range. Erica was 7/9 from inside, including on a wonderful fast break feed. Naturally we cannot tell much about the competitiveness of this team when we were playing Vanguard, but a few questions are answered. Erica McCall and Kaylee Johnson are developing into solid starting posts, Taylor and Karlie are probably going to compete for most of the time at wing, and Alex and Bri may push Amber in this new offense. Oh, and the new offense is great fun to watch.
Atmosphere: There wasn't any. No band, an unfamiliar and ignorant announcer, and a turnout generously stated to be 2600. Still, I wouldn't have missed this for anything, as Tara's secret plans begin to be revealed!
